Planes overhead in M46
Wigan and Bolton, Greater Manchester. All 577 of its postcodes measured, January to August 2026.
From Manchester
Planes land and take off into the wind, so the weather decides which way Manchester flies, and that decides how many pass over M46. Across its postcodes, January to August 2026:
- On a day it flies west (70% of days): up to 21 a day; of its 577 postcodes, 131 at 10 to 99, 446 under 10
- On a day it flies both ways (10% of days): up to 13 a day; of its 577 postcodes, 41 at 10 to 99, 536 under 10
- On a day it flies east (20% of days): up to 10 a day; of its 577 postcodes, 1 at 10 to 99, 576 under 10
The table counts the postcodes of each sector by how many planes pass over them a day: 100 or more, 10 to 99, or under 10.
| Sector | Flying west70% of days | Both ways10% of days | Flying east20% of days |
|---|---|---|---|
| M46 0281 postcodes | 15 at 10 to 99266 under 10 | 6 at 10 to 99275 under 10 | 1 at 10 to 99280 under 10 |
| M46 61 postcode | 1 under 10 | 1 under 10 | 1 under 10 |
| M46 9295 postcodes | 116 at 10 to 99179 under 10 | 35 at 10 to 99260 under 10 | 295 under 10 |
What counts as overhead
Overhead means more than halfway up the sky (48.5 degrees or more) and below 7,000 ft, the CAA's definition of an overflight (CAP 1498). A day counts as one way when 80% of its flights used that way.
Near M46
BL5 M29 WN7 M38 BL3 WN2 M28 BL4
The councils
Where these figures come from
Counted from community flight tracking, checked against the CAA's monthly totals for Manchester. Flight tracks: adsb.lol (ODbL 1.0); Weather at each airport: Iowa Environmental Mesonet; Ground heights: Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right; Postcode positions: ONS National Statistics Postcode Lookup (OGL). Licence: Open Database License (ODbL) 1.0.